After The Royal Ranger
by TEM.lovesbantams
Summary: "I woke with a throbbing head and aching back. I was in a forest. Where? I didn't know. When? I didn't know. Who was I? That one I could answer: Alyss. Alyss Mainwaring." After the fire, amnesiac Alyss travels to Skandia with Liese Halsdotir and makes a life for herself as she searches for her own identity. As her garbled memories haunt her, Alyss must overcome much to return home.
1. Amnesiac

**My take on what really happens to Alyss Mainwaring. Please read. If you enjoy it, review! If you don't, then review with your constructive criticism. I do not welcome flamers, but I will gladly read what you think of this story and what you think I can improve.**

I woke with a throbbing head and aching back. I was in a forest. Where? I didn't know. When? I didn't know. Who was I? That one I could answer: Alyss.

I remembered seeing an inn in flames and watching as a five year-old waved her arms out the window in desperation. The guards had decided that they couldn't do anything, so I took it upon myself to rescue the girl. I knew I had succeeded, but the girl I was with now was not the one from the inn.

I looked around the clearing. It was a normal clearing, with pine needle and leaves coating the dirt and slender maple trees dotting the evergreen woods. The girl laid on the ground next to me, her wavy, black hair sprawled out over the leaves, a glossy curtain on the natural forest floor.

Her face was quite beautiful. Olive color, with slightly uptilted eyes and high cheekbones. A wave of confusion hit me, sending my empty brain spinning. How did she get here? I had been saving a five year-old, so how did this girl end up here, with me?

I inspected myself for injuries or burns, but only my head seemed damaged. After tossing the child out the window to the guards I had hurried back to the first floor, and I must have have been hit with a falling beam, because I went unconscious and woke up here.

I turned my attention once again to the girl beside me. She too was bruised, but it seemed minor. I shook her shoulders gently, and her eyes fluttered open. She met my eyes and I found myself lost in her dark brown irises. I might not have remembered where I came from, but I knew that none of my close friends had brown eyes or dark hair.

"I'm Liese," the girl said.

"I'm Alyss. Do you know where we are?" I asked. She shook her head.

"I dragged you out of the fire and traveled as far as I could, avoiding people," she replied, not looking me in the eye anymore. She began raking pine needles out of her hair. I reached back to see if my ash blonde hair was in the same condition, but to my shock found that it had been singed to shoulder length. I drew my dagger out of my belt and chopped of the crispy, burnt mess.

"Where do we go now?" Liese's young face was surprisingly calm, much calmer than I knew _I_ looked.

"Well, do you have family? Friends? Someone we can go to for help?" I was parched and hungry, and despite my long sleep, I was exhausted. She shook her head again.

"My parents live in Skandia. I was just visiting with my mother's friend while my parents and uncles went on a 'dangerous' voyage." I could tell from her tone that she was not pleased with the arrangement.

"I was running an errand for my mom's friend when I saw the building collapse and heard a scream from inside," she continued. "I decided to have an adventure and save whoever was in there." She shrugged like it was no big deal. "It was you. Like I said, I dragged you out and went as far as I could." She looked at me accusingly. "You're heavier than you look."

I glanced up at the sky and groaned at the gathering clouds. Rain. "We need to find shelter," I said. "Do you have a horse?"

"No!" Liese's placid face contorted in slight anger. I realized she was not be as unworried as she appeared. "If I had a horse do you think I would have lugged you here myself?"

She had a point. I fixed my eyes on my charred fingernails, considering our options. We could try to get out of the woods, but that could take a while. We also could try to backtrack, since there was sure to be people back at the site of the fire, but whoever had caused the fire could still be there. The last possibility would be to create a makeshift shelter and wait until the rain stopped. After some conversing, some arguing, and quite a bit of mud throwing, we tentatively agreed on the first one.

Thankfully, we only had to walk for a little over an hour before a small, run-down village came into sight. It was made up of several small farms, a few shops, and, best of all, a seaport where three shabby ships swayed in the breeze.

Liese talked to some of the men at the port about the price of a trip to Skandia. She must have been richer than her clothing suggested, because her haggling was not the best and we still were given good lodging and a guaranteed spot on the next day's crossing to Liese's home.

The minute we settled ourselves into the town's single inn, the clouds burst, drenching everything. I collapsed on the bed, while Liese ate dinner in the dining room downstairs. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep, and my dreams were a mix of wonderful, crazy, and terrifying.

When I finally woke, the sun was blinding me through the window, and Liese was glowering at me.

"You slept past noon," she grumbled. "I had to pack everything _and_ convince the sailors to wait for us."

"You know you could've just woken me up," I pointed out. I immediately regretted saying anything in my defense because Liese began an epic lecture on all the reasons why she couldn't have just woken me up. Her speech didn't end until past breakfast.

"Why don't you go make sure we brought everything from the room," I told her. It was a ridiculous errand, because the only thing we had brought were some clothes we purchased from a local farm woman. Liese knew this, but she tromped back to the inn, grumbling the whole way, while I made the last arrangements with the sailors.

Finally, we stood on the deck of the largest of the few ships. As I watched the undulating waves and swirling sea foam, I became queasy and retreated below deck.

I sat on the bench in my cabin, considering what I would do when we reached Skandia. I was considerably sure that Alyss didn't live in Skandia, but finding my home could come later. Anyway, Alyss Mainwaring, the person I'm supposed to be, was buried under the beam in the fire. First I would get Liese to her family, then I would tackle the challenge of finding someone who could help me uncover my past identity.


	2. The Long Journey

**Thank you to guests Jesse, Unnamed, and Hal Mikkelson who reviewed this story. This chapter wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!**

I stopped counting the days we remained on the ship and focused all my attention on remembering. Despite my recent decision to get to Skandia before trying, the tickling memories taunted me, and I could bear it no longer.

Blurred images and faces floated into my mind every time I closed my eyes, only revealing obscured figures and garbled words. One in particular made my heart throb, and I opened my eyes again to stifle my sudden pain. Who could make me feel like that? A sibling or parent? A child? A husband?

The fact that I might not be able to remember my own family frightened me, and I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a cliff. If I forgot the few details I had left, I would topple into oblivion. Fear was not something I was accustomed to. I was supposed to be dignified and imperturbable. All curriers should be.

I steered my thoughts back to where I was standing on the deck of the ship. _What's a currier? Am I a currier?_ I felt myself tumble through my disorganized and unthorough memories, lost as the shredded scenes flew by me.

The weeks passed, and the summer days began to shorten, until fall breezes began to gently blow and we greatly shortened the ocean between the ship and Skandia.

Within what seemed like only days to the distant nobody who was me, the vague, misty coast of Skandia came into view. Everyone on the little ship was hustling around and doing complicated things with ropes while I sat and waited, unsure of exactly what I could do to be helpful. Finally I decided to go below deck with Liese. She was sitting on her bunk, fingering a pale purple pendant on a thin chain around her neck. Hesitating for a moment, I wondered if I should go in, because she was already very distant towards me, and I wasn't positive she would forgive me for interrupting something private.

"I see you, lady."

I guess I thought too loud. "I know, I was just giving you a few minutes to put that necklace away, so I wouldn't ask what it was," I said, stepping through the doorway. Something about the witty statement made me feel at home.

"Well, I am not going to tell you," Liese replied, pulling her legs up on to the mattress so she was on her stomach. "And it doesn't matter, anyway. It's not important."

Something about her tone told me that it was extremely important, but that she would be stubbornly silent about it. I rolled my old, half-burnt clothes into a bundle, wrapped them in a sheet, and tied them with a leather thong. I folded my short, sheathed dagger into the parcel, and tucked it under my arm. The crew above-deck was shouting and 'huzzaing', signalling that we had reached land.

The swaying and dropping of the ocean reigned the over the small ship, but the stillness of land took its toll on me when I stepped onto the dry ground. I began to feel a lump in my throat, and it took all my effort to force it back down. Liese seemed unaffected by what the ship's crew called 'land-sickness', and was grudgingly leading me towards where she said 'home' was. She knocked unenthusiastically on the door of a squat, cozy-looking house. A young woman who looked much like Liese, with shiny, silky black hair, olive skin, and dark brown eyes opened the brown door.

"Liese?" she asked, appearing surprised but not shocked. "I thought your father was going to get you from Araluen. What are doing here? And who is this?"

Before Liese or I could answer, a young man with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes came forward. The woman turned to him. "You didn't schedule for her to be back now, right, Hal?"

"No," he answered. "Liese. What's going on?"

 **So far I only have three reviewers. I will say that its very unencouraging not to have people say they like your story. I want at least three reviews for this chapter. Readers are what will keep this fanfic alive! I love encouragement, and accept constructive criticism. Tell me what you think about Liese and amnesiac Alyss so far. Who should Alyss meet in Skandia who knows her? (I have a poll on my profile for that question, btw.)**

 **Thx! Review on your way out!**


	3. Settling In, With a Secret

Well, long story short, Liese got severely punished for disappearing from Araluen, but her parents, Hal Mikkelson and Lydia Halswife, were very hospitable and let me stay with them until I could find out a more permanent place to live.

Most of my time was spent alone in the house. Hal was on his ship or at the harbor almost all the time, and Liese was normally with him. Lydia, also, worked with Hal and his crew, and when she wasn't doing that, she was with the Oberjarl, Erak. I went with her on the ship, _Heron,_ once, but apparently my stomach doesn't totally agree with small ships and their tendency to rock with every whim and wish of the ocean.

By the end of the week, Hal and Lydia's house was sparkling clean from all my aimless scrubbing and sweeping. If I wasn't cleaning, I was grooming the two large black, white, and tan dogs, Gorf and Gloof. Apparently they were the puppies of an adopted stray who was a beloved member of the _Heron_ crew.

This routine went on for almost a month. I was happy with Hal and Lydia, though I never saw much of Liese, for she spent almost all of her spare moments on the ship or at least in the harbor. Lydia taught me to use the atlatl when she was home, and Hal showed me how to man the tiller of a ship, even though my stomach complained mercilessly.

But when the air began to chill and the ground frosted over at night, I knew I would need to find my own home for the winter. Once spring came again, Lydia promised she would help me find someone from my past who could bring me to my real home. There was a widow living not too far from Hal's house, and I offered to help here make meals and keep house if I could stay in her spare room. She agreed, and I moved in right before the first snowstorm hit Hallasholm.

For the next month, I became an expert at washing dishes and most simple baking. I still visited with Lydia and Hal, but I felt that I was settling into Skandian life. _Maybe my home_ is _in Skandia after all!_ I felt cheered by that thought, and my sweeping became much more vigorous. So vigorous, in fact, that a plume of dust billowed up in front of my face, sending me into a fit of coughing even more vigorous than my sweeping.

My body was heaving with the effort of expelling the dust from my lungs, and I had lost total control of myself. Suddenly, my coughing ceased, and I was overcome with a different but all-too-familiar sensation. I rushed out the door and plunged through the deep snow towards the nearby woodline. I had just enough time to lean over before my last meal burst out of my mouth, staining the crystal white ground.

After some more vomiting, I wiped my mouth with a leaf and some snow and dazily walked back into the house. For the rest of the day, I had a feeling like morning-sickness, just not in the morning. I slept like a baby that night, that is to say, not at all, and woke up drowsy and still a little out of it.

Now, I will not write about everything that happened that month, but it included many mood swings, sleepless nights, and random puking. Finally, on one rainy and dreary night, the widow, Tove, identified my illness. I was in denial for several hours, but eventually I had to submit to reason.

You're probably wondering what my condition was, and I wouldn't tell you if it wasn't such a big part of the next year and a half I'm not sure I can get away with avoiding it.

So here it is: wherever I used to live, I must have had a husband, because right now, in my amnesiac state, I am pregnant.

 **So, is it gonna be a boy or a girl? Sorry this was kinda out of character, but Alyss is quite hard to write in 1st person. I also need some suggestions for the baby's name. Next chapter: baby, some memories, and some more characters you know!**


	4. Alyss?

Skip forward the next six months. I am staring into the beautiful dark brown eyes of the baby that I-me-somehow gave birth to.

Tove tells me that the labor was short and fairly easy, but I don't believe her. It was the hardest, most painful, most amazing thing that I had ever endured. Well, that I could remember.

Speaking of remembering, I was staring into my gorgeous baby's almost-black eyes. My amnesia didn't remove the knowledge that babies' eyes are rarely anything other than blue. But something was happening that was even bigger than how I was now a mother.

A face.

A clear, colored image.

Tan skin and dark hair. Several small but cruel scars around the collarbone. A short, scruffy beard covered the handsome jawline and cheekbone.

A warm, loving smile that lit the whole picture. And deep brown-black eyes that held more emotions than I could count. I saw compassion and hurt, haunting and memories.

And unlike my previous images, this one stuck. I was sure this was someone very close to me. A brother or husband, though probably not the former, for he looked nothing like me.

But my new child, only a few hours old. She was a different story. This man, whoever he was, looked strikingly like my daughter.

"You're gonna have to name her, you know," said Tove from across the room. She had supported me throughout the pregnancy and graciously allowed me to stay with her even though I was unable to work. I sighed and turned back to look at my little girl.

She had mid-toned skin with the red,wrinkly hue that all babies have, and brown eyes that had a sweet but stubborn appeal. Even now, it was apparent that she would have graceful cheekbones and an elegant jawline. Her nose was small and dainty and her wispy baby hair was thick, fine, and a pale brown.

For the past few weeks, Lydia and I had been coming up with lists of names, both boy and girl, for the upcoming baby, but none seemed right to me now. Karan and Nolana. Right now I had the choice between naming my daughter either Skandian, her birthplace, or Araluen, the country I was fairly certain I had come from.

"Are you a Nolana?" I asked the half-sleeping baby. Her eyes shot open and she wrinkled her nose as an enormous sneeze escaped her tiny body. "I guess not."

"Karan, then," I said. It seemed appropriate that I used a name popular in the country of her birth, and it fit her.

The first few months of Karan Erianthe's life went smoothly and pretty blandly. The only major milestone was when she smiled at me. She loves to babble in her nonsensical language, but, like all babies, she spent most of her time eating, sleeping, and being held.

At about six months she began sitting up, and started crawling not too long afterward. Tove says she is a bright, alert, and physically advanced child. I wouldn't know, but I was proud of my daughter anyway. By nine months, she was walking, and by ten, she could say "Mama" and "Tow-ah". By her first birthday, she was naming simple objects and was incredibly mobile for such a young age.

I was soon able to take her to market with Tove and I without worrying too much. I had to admit that I had settled into Hallasholm quite comfortably. Until Hal returned from a long sea trip with a visitor.

Everyone was making a big fuss around the small ship as Hal and his crewmates unloaded. From behind the loud crowd, I could see two unfamiliar figures, and man and a woman, stepping down the ramp. The woman had short blond hair and a round, cheerful face. Her companion was tall and dark-haired, with an odd cloak and a bow and quiver on his shoulder.

Their faces struck sharp chords in my mind, and I had the now-usual sensation of my past self knocking at the inside of my skull, shouting at me to let them back out. I knew these people, knew their stories, but their names and stories slipped through my mental fingers. I reached down to pick up Karan and weaved through the ecstatic people. I stopped when I made eye contact with the man. Many emotions flashed through his eyes, before settling on one I couldn't interpret.

"Alyss?"

 **Hope you liked it! I was so happy when I saw that I got three reviews for this chapter! It's so amazing when you know other people appreciate your imagination and writing. Thanks to all who reviewed and thank you to all who are reviewing this chapter now! (hint, hint!)**


	5. Walls

**Hey, everyone! Thank you to the many who reviewed the last chapter. So encouraging. I'm sorry I don't get to update very often, but I'm homeschooled, and because of how last school semester went, we had to do some light math, history, and memory work throughout the summer, plus I'm editing three of my friend's books and am writing a few of my own. Plus, with a walking baby, two puppies, and three other siblings in the house, your time can drain quickly.**

I wasn't sure what to say. The man's figure and attire seemed so familiar. He wasn't the face that'd appeared in my mind and floated with me since Karan's birth, but I knew this couple, they were my friends. I felt like I'd finally broken through a wall only to find another one behind it.

I hoisted the girl higher on my hip and pushed through the crowd to them. "That's my name." Other than that, I wasn't sure what to say.

"What are you doing here? You've been missing for three years!" The man's face was filled with confusion, betrayal, and disbelief.

"I think we'd better find someplace to talk. Alone."

We settled into Hal and Lydia's living room. The awkward silence that preceded helped me to sort through my jumbled thoughts, but only enough for me to speak a sentence.

"I don't remember anything."

"Anything?" the girl, Jenny, whose name I managed to find, asked with innocent worry clearly displayed in her bright blue eyes.

"Anything."

"No one? Not Pauline, Halt… Will?" the man, Gilan, asked. The disbelief never seemed to fade.

"Yes, but it's not like my real life. More like a dream I had years ago. It might have been vibrant then, but now I have to try so hard to find anything. My earliest memory that seems real is… a man's face. I think he's Karan's father, but I don't know. After that, I remember the inn, the little girl, and something heavy, a plank, maybe, hitting me in the head.

"I came to Skandia with Liese, who I now know was supposed to be at Castle Araluen. I stayed with Hal and Lydia for a while, then moved in with a widow, Tove, and found out I was pregnant. After Karan was born, I settled in. Skandia might not be my home, but it was conveniently placed in my current situation, so I stayed. I'm sorry for being gone, but I couldn't remember anything."

Jenny, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, playing peekaboo with Karan, looked up me and smiled, though there was a tear slowly making its way down her round cheek. Gilan put his hand on my shoulder.

"We understand, but Will has been having trouble with your loss. We all thought you were dead. For a while he refused to speak to anyone and was engulfed in avenging your death. He's okay now, but only because we busied him with a feisty apprentice."

Jenny suddenly stood up and wrapped her arms around me tightly. "Oh, Alyss! You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this!" She eventually had to step back so we could both breathe, but she left me with a smile on my lips. "Now, how long has it been since you had a good, warm chicken pie?" Without waiting for an answer, she bustled herself into the kitchen and started to work.

"Gilan," I said, a tone of desperation evident in my voice. "Tell me about… my home, my friends… me." As weird as it was to ask that question, I knew it was necessary. I had to decide what to do next with my life.

"Well…" Gilan also seemed to think it odd. "Pauline, your mentor, has retired from the Courier service with her husband, Halt, and they're now living in the Redmont Castle. Jenny has finally closed her restaurant and agreed to marry me, which is why we're her-to settle some last business before the wedding. King Duncan passed away a few months ago, and Horace and Cassandra are now king and queen. Madelyn is on her way to becoming the first fully-fledged female ranger, thanks to Halt's brilliant idea. I don't really know what else to say. Are you getting any of this?"

"Not at all. I remember a little about you and Jenny, and it's getting clearer. Something about seeing you, I guess.." I took a deep breath. "Do you know who Karan's father is? I assume I'm married." I blushed a little.

Gilan, too, blushed. "Will Treaty. You've been married for fifteen or so years. None of us knew you were pregnant when you disappeared, that I know of. He's a Ranger, like me, and he trained Madelyn. Halt is our former mentor."

Jenny came waltzing in with a steaming pie pan. "Tada! No need to be so serious about this. Alyss can come back with us next month and I'm sure she'll remember."

"I don't know if it's that easy," I said. "I've missed so much, and I have a life here I'd have to say goodbye to." At the words 'goodbye', Karan stood dramatically.

"Bye-bye, bye-bye, BYE-BYE!" She waved a chubby baby hand as she spoke.

"Or maybe it is," I said.

The wall staring me in the face was as thick as the fog of uncertainty concealing my fate, but I knew I would break it down. Somehow.

I would find my life.

I would find Will.

 **Sorry if that was a little dull, but I'm scrounging for action ideas, and this was a little filler. Sorry to those who hoped Gilan was Will, but Will isn't tall or clean-shaven like I described. Does anyone know how to pronounce Gilan?**

 **Okay, so we had 8 reviews for last chapter, and 16 reviews in all, but almost 500 people have viewed the story. Please, if you like it, tell me. I only need a few words. "Good job" works. Or "Liked it." If you didn't like it, write a constructive review about why you didn't. Like "grammar could be worked on", "Character were OOC", or just "You should edit this a little."**

 **I'm not super sensitive, so criticism is ok, as long it has a point and isn't pure mean.**

 **Thanks, and see you next chap! -TEMlovesbantams**


	6. The Storm

**We'll learn a little more about the Herons now! And I have some Ulf and Wulf for you guys!**

After a few weeks and a tearful goodbye to Tove and the other friends we'd made, Karan and I were on Hal's ship back to Araluen with Jenny and Gilan. Having finally come to terms with my identity, I had begun to feel less like I was leaving home and more like I might be returning there. More of my memory had returned, too, and it left me grieving all the time I'd been away from my family, especially Will. It was like a sore was being pressed. I needed my home.

In the meantime I listened to the stories about the adventures Gilan had been on with Hal and the crew, as well as what had happened with Will and Maddie in Araluen. My common sense said that no few people could contain those stories, but my past memories… they disagreed, whisper-shouting to me that some few people could, me being one of them.

Karan was two and a half now, that meant three years I'd been away from them all. What would their reactions be? Would it all just go back to normal? Not likely. Too much had happened for that. Maddie, Cassandra… Evanlyn's daughter was training to be the first full-fledged female Ranger, the first royal Ranger, too.

Gilan told me we had two days left on the ship before reaching port near Caraway. I found myself holding onto those two days.

I got four extra.

The sun was hidden, but the air was warm and as I stood at the bow alone, spray from the ocean misting my face. Karan, or Kari, as Gilan had begun calling her, was below with Jenny, who seemed to have taken to her like, well, a ship to the sea. Gilan was talking with Hal at the tiller, and the rest of the crew, Ulf, Wulf, Edvin, Stefan, Jesper, Ingvar, Stig, and Stig's fifteen year-old son Gustav were mulling about.

The sea was green, and random golden light flashed as the brightness of the sky caught the waves. Wait… golden?

I looked up. The sky was a pale shade of yellow-gold, and on the horizon, it faded to an ominous purple.

"Gustav…" I said, turning and backing away from the bow, as if it held the danger, not the clouds forming. The tall, dark-haired boy was the nearest Skandian.

"I see it," he said. "Get below. I'll warn Hal."

I wasted no time. Tripping over myself in a silly attempt to run away from the storm, I rushed down to where Jenny was playing "patty-cake" with Karan.

"…and put it in the oven for Kari and me!" the blonde girl finished with an infectious smile. Karan clapped her chubby toddler hands and giggled lightly as Jenny tickled her.

"Jenny," I said, and Kari's laughter gurgled dry when she heard my serious tone, "we need to close the door and secure ourselves. A storm's coming."

"I thought it was too early in the season for the bad storms," Jenny said. She sounded more upset than scared. "And why would we need to secure ourselves?"

Jenny, being the sweet, bubbly, innocent Jenny she is, never thought too much about negative things like death, illnesses, and raging storms, but I knew what the weird sky colors and deceivingly calm weather meant.

The last _Heron_ had actually sunk in a storm like the one that was coming. This one, Gilan had told me, was stronger, taller, and a little bigger, with the same original design, but I doubted the changes were extreme enough to make an ultimate difference.

We used rope from the small barracks to fasten ourselves to the wall in sitting positions. Karan I tied to myself and held tightly in my lap with my eyes shut tight, because the storm had begun.

There were no windows in the bottom of the _Heron_ , a fact for which I was partially disappointed by and partially grateful for; I couldn't see the waves we were going over, but I could _definitely_ feel them. Every time the room rocked, I felt like I left my stomach in a different place. Sometimes the only thing keeping me from hitting the opposite wall was the rope around my waist. Every once in awhile, an ominous thud or shout came from above, and there was a constant roar of the waves and the rain.

Karan was asleep against my chest, somehow, and Jenny hadn't made a noise the entire time, whereas I screamed and tensed with fear every time the ship rolled. Finally, I was able to shut my eyes and doze, but I never actually fell asleep, and thoughts of home and Will haunted the darkness of my closed lids.

Hours passed. Some water seeped in from beneath the door and began sloshing around the room, soaking us. The wet and the cold combined with my fear. It seeped any warmth out of me, except for the tiny girl huddling in my arms. I felt that, also, it was stealing any hope I had of getting home.

Finally, blessedly, the thundering faded, the noise faded, and my world faded as I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Kari was awake, and Jenny was feeding her bits of dried fruit. "How long have we been here?" I asked her.

"A day or so," she replied. "Gilan came in a few minutes ago with the food and told us that Hal thinks the storm should pass soon. But we aren't sure where we are. The storm blew us way off course and it may take us awhile to get back to Araluen."

Her eyes were red and a little puffy. She had been crying, probably because of her postponed wedding.

"I'm sure we'll get back," I told her, though I couldn't bring myself to believe my own words. "Hal's a great navigator. He'll get us home."

I later estimated that we stayed in the small room for a total of twenty-seven hours. The first thing Jenny and I did when we left was use the bathroom, or Head, as it was called on a ship.

Topside was a mess. One of the yardarms had snapped, its splinters strewn across the deck, and broken oars contributed to the piles of wood. Ropes, both frayed and new, lay in mounds and hung from anything that could hold them. It appeared that something, maybe a weapon, had flown and embedded itself near the bow, and had been pulled out, leaving a scar in the planks.

Worst, all the faces of the crew, in addition to their monstrous exhaustion, were downcast with hopelessness.

"Where are we?" I asked no one in particular.

Stig turned, and unlike the others, his face was more confused, and layered with grief. "We're going to stop by the Mawagansett's place to stock up on supplies."

Of course, I didn't know where this was, so I asked Gilan, and he summarized the story of Stig's first love, Tecumsa, and how the Herons had arrived at the unknown island.

Now, the new _Heron_ had been blown so off course the nearest bay was the very place the Mawags lived.

For two more days, the _Heron_ limped through the calm water, towards our new destination. Jenny sobbed for most of that when she learned it would be almost half a year before they would make it to Araluen and marry Gilan.

I remember very little of those two days, except for one odd conversation that occurred between Ulf and Wulf.

"I call dibbs!" one of them, probably Wulf, called to his brother.

"On what?" probably-Ulf asked.

"Remember that pretty brown-eyed girl that kept following us around last time?" the other replied.

"Yeah, but there were two, and they were assigned to us, so they had to follow us around."

"No," Wulf said, "they were _assigned_ to you, obviously, but remember how that one kept sneaking glances at me?"

"I remember no such thing!" Ulf protested. "In fact, I believe that she fancied myself. Don't you recall how she giggled whenever you said you were me, because she thought that there was no way someone so ugly could have such a handsome name as Ulf?"

"No, I don't recall, and obviously she was thinking how anyone so handsome could have such an ugly name as Ulf!"

I understood little of this, as the twins were identical in every aspect, and as they insulted each other's appearance, they were speaking as much about himself as about the other. Finally, after much arguing, Hal turned to Ingvar.

"Have you noticed how dry those two look recently?"

"Why, yes. I have noticed," Ingvar replied. The exchange seemed a little odd to me. "Would you like me to remedy that?"

"I think that would be nice."

Ingvar stood, and his sheer bulk still surprised me. As he walked towards the mast, where the twins had been quarrelling, the two men's mouths shut with slightly audible _clops!_ and both ran in opposite directions.

But Ingvar was fast, and he grabbed one with one hand, and tossed him easily over the side. Then, apparently as an afterthought, he snatched the other up by his boots and swung him into the water.

When land finally came in sight, Gorf and Gloof, the two large mascots of the Heron Brotherband, leaped into the water (of their own will, Ingvar had nothing to do with it), and began doggy-paddling for the shore, barking _Gorf!_ and _Gloof!,_ respectively, of course.

Kari, from her perch on Gilan's shoulders, pointed at the beach, and said, "Are we home, yet, Mommy?"

I smiled bittersweetly. "Not yet, honey. Not just yet."

 **BTW, Gorf and Gloof are Kloof's sons. And finally our plot is picking up. Sorry, I know it's been dragging for a while.**

 **See you next chappie!**


	7. A Plague

**Alright, thank you to the few people who reviewed my last few chapters, but please, I would like more than just two reviewers per chapter. I don't write ff because it's my way of dealing with the things I don't like about how books ended, I write it because I want to be filling in those cliffhanger-ey gaps in books that** ** _others_** **want filled.**

Gilan explained to me and Jenny a little more about the Mawagansetts we were going to stay with while the rest of the crew gathered up their go-ashore supplies.

Hal was arranging the ship so that it would be fine on its own for a few days and Stig was organizing the others. Ulf, Wulf, and Stefan were collecting the canvas and clothes needed for a few days' camping, Ingvar was heaving one of the huge water casks onto the deck.

Edvin was arranging spices and other food, muttering to himself what seemed like a recipe. "Mud… bark… _gobble-gobble_ bird…" he mumbled.

Jesper was darting to and fro, appearing busy, though he never seemed to be accomplishing anything.

"Jesper!" Stig bellowed from the stern. "Get to work or you'll be bailing out bilge water while the rest of us are feasting with the Mawags!"

Immediately, Jesper began helping Edvin with the foods. If anything motivated these men, it was a feast.

However, once we were ashore and in the woods, it was apparent that there would be no feasting. Where the Mawags once were, there was nothing but an empty clearing and abandoned firepits.

"I'm no tracker," Hal said, "but it appears that no one's living here."

"I am a tracker," Gilan said. "And it looks like there's been a plague."

Upon further observation, it did appear that there'd been a plague. A little ways into the woods, we found a small clearing where at least thirty graves had been dug. Simple cairns marked the places, but the plants had only just begun to grow over the turned dirt. Several had nameplates.

"There's Pillika," Ulf said sadly.

"And Mohegas," said Stig.

"I don't see Simsinnett, though," Hal remarked. "If Mohegas is gone, I wonder if he became the new leader."

"I thought the Mawags didn't believe in graves," Edvin said.

"I don't think they dug any," Gilan replied. He gestured to the small group of nameplates. "These aren't marking graves. They're just stones with the names engraved, and see here? Under each of the names is the new name you told me about, the one people would use for them after they died." Sure enough, each nameplate had two names. "I think the graves were dug later, by other people."

"You mean after the Mawags fled the plague, others came by and buried the bodies?" Gustav asked.

"It seems like a likely possibility," Gilan said. "My guess is after a few deaths, the healthy Mawags left to find an untainted home, and when the sick ones here died, someone else–who didn't share the Mawag's beliefs–buried the bodies."

We all stood, silent, until Jesper, who'd been searching the woods around the empty clearing, burst in. "Um, guys? You need to see this."

The next clearing was small, and almost all of it was taken up by the firepit in the middle. Ten feet in diameter, the circle of black logs and stones looked only a few days old. Several long sticks were burnt on the ends, like they had been poked into the fire. And badly charred human bones were scattered in the coals.

After the gravesite, Gustav had taken Jenny and Kari back to the ship, fearing that another creepy sight might be too much for them.

"These must have been the first victims," Hal said, fingering some of the ash on the edge of the pit.

"These," Stig said, "combined with the graves, are more than half of the tribe."

A thought that had been nagging at me shoved its way through my lips. "Are we safe? From the plague, I mean."

Gilan grinned halfheartedly at me. "Probably." Most of the crew looked at him questioningly, so Gilan felt obliged to elaborate. "Most plagues like this are brought from elsewhere, where people have immunities built up against them, and when the people here, who don't have those immunities, are exposed to the virus, it takes hold quickly and firmly."

The message of this statement sunk in slowly.

"You mean…" a twin started.

"That maybe…" another continued.

"We are the reason half the Mawagansett tribe was wiped out," Hal finished sourly.

* * *

Liese:

I had never ridden a horse before, but I was learning fast.

Two months passed after my dad had left Skandia for Araluen, one more than when he should have returned.

The new duty ship was going, so my mother sent me with them to see what what wrong. Never before had Dad been more than three days late. He was an outstanding skirl and was always punctual to keep me, Mom, Gramma, and Thorn from worrying. After a week Mom started to talk to Erak, and after two began to talk about sending me to find him.

If you're wondering why Mom didn't go herself, it's because she's in a bit of a delicate condition.

Something else I should probably explain about me is why my parents are so ridiculously overprotective.

They married when they were eighteen, a typical age for marriage in Skandia, and at twenty my mom had her first miscarriage. By twenty-two she had had two more. Altogether there were four before she had me at twenty-five. Since me she's had one.

So by the time they finally had me, they were so used to the happiness overwhelming them, then it all crashing down to grief, they felt they had to protect me. Like they were scared that I was still going to be taken away from them.

It was also hard because when Stig married Milly, a maid from Castle Araluen, they had no trouble having two daughter, Gustav, and then another daughter.

Edvin married a pretty blonde Skandian woman named Kirsten when he was thirty, considered an older age for romance, but the couple had shown little interest in having children.

Ingvar and the twins were still passionately single, though Stefan and Jesper both had sweethearts fretting about them back in Hallasholm.

So why hadn't the _Herons_ returned on time?

That's what I was finding out.

When the _Wolfhunt_ had docked near Caraway, I leased a small horse with the money my mother had given me to fund the trip and started on my way to Araluen.

Grampa Thorn (at this point, Mom was too distressed to give me comprehensive instructions), had told me to immediately head to Castle Araluen (or "that overgrown stack of brick and tapestries" as Grampa put it, because that's where news of the _Heron_ was most likely to be. But even on horseback, it was still going to take me two days.

"Okay, you cursed, flea-ridden, bouncing, lumpy beast," I told the horse. "That's enough for today."

It's owner had told me the horse's name was Cora, but I had called it everything else, such as: "Orlog's greasy horns, my backside hurts!", "You, wicked creature, are going to regret ever being hired when we stop!", and "WOULD YOU STEP SMOOTHLY FOR A FEW MINUTES?!".

I had purposely stopped in an uninhabited area where I could set up a camp without unwanted company, since the coin my mother provided wouldn't quite cover the cost of an inn. I tied the horse to a thick branch and rolled myself in my tarpaulin for the night.

I was greeted at the entrance to the castle grounds by a blonde girl about my age with a leather sling and a pouch full of stones. Madelyn.

I regarded her skeptically, and noted that she also carried an impressive bow and wore a double-scabbard belt around her waist.

"Liese, what are you doing here?"

I didn't deign to answer her question, it was none of her business, and instead asked my own. "What's with the bow?"

She shouldered it affectionately. "Like it? I'm training as a Ranger. My mentor, Will Treaty just helped me finish making this one yesterday. I'd been using a recurve bow up until now."

"But aren't you a princess?" I asked, sincerely confused. Honest, I was not at all trying to make her angry, though I did know she hated the whole "royal" thing and I did know that her temper blew up easily at things like that… okay, maybe I was trying to make her angry. It doesn't really matter, though, because it didn't work.

"I'm both now. My dad says it's good for me to be learning how to defend myself, and my mom went on a bunch of crazy adventures when she was young, so she isn't allowed to say anything. It was meant as a sort of punishment, but I really enjoyed it so I'm officially training to become a fully-fledged member, though I may not actually be posted at a fief.

"Anyway, why are you here? I thought our yearly visits finished after you ran away," she said.

"I need to talk to your parents, or someone with authority here…" I said. The best person to talk to would be a Ranger, since they normally knew what was going on, but now that Maddie was one, I wasn't going to say that.

"Will's just inside, let's go talk to him," she told me.

 **HAHAHA! I left you guys with a cliffhanger, I left you guys with a cliffhanger!**

 **Actually, I'm wondering what's going to happen next, too...**

 **Also, I want to say how disappointing it is to wait three days and see that only one person-ONE PERSON-read, liked, and bothered to tell you about your story. I thank everybody who's reviewed so far, but please, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEAAASE REVIEW IF YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER! Just a sentence. Even "Thanks" is so encouraging. For the past two chapters, I've only had like three reviewers, so please, just let me know you liked what I wrote.**

 **REVIEWS KEEP MY STORIES ALIVE!**


	8. Somewhere Else

**I know I didn't give you guys much time to review, but since it was the weekend, I had a lot of extra time. Still, what I said last chapter still applies. But I've decided that I will start giving credit to those who do review.**

Nightstories123 **: Yep, Hal's going to be in BIG trouble when he he gets home (if he gets home). And you're great at writing reviews. Any review is encouraging.**

imketys **: Yeah, Maddie and Liese have an odd relationship.**

"That may not be the case," Gilan said, "But if it isn't, that would mean that other newcomers have arrived here."

"So we _are_ safe?" I asked, concerned for Kari.

"We'll know in a few days if none of us show any symptoms."

"So the next question is," Stig said, "do we go a find the remaining Mawags and, I don't know, help them, or do we stay here to repair the ship and rest?"

"Let's get back to the ship and set up camp first," Hal decided, "then we'll take a vote or something."

When we finally got back, it was almost dark, and Kari had fallen asleep. Jenny was on the ship, trying to find something to do, and Gustav was tending the fire on the beach. Edvin went to explain the situation to Gustav and Gilan went to talk to Jenny. The rest of the crew began setting up a makeshift campsite, and I carried Kari from the soft sand to a hammock on the ship. She was three now; her third birthday had passed during the storm. Three years with just one parent. Without her father.

Every hour something else would be dusted off in my mind.

I remembered when Will went missing, when I was a captive in a tower, when he first told me "I love you".

I remembered our wedding, the small quiet one in the woods; Will's lips against mine.

Finally, in a hammock on a ship next to an island near nowhere, Kari nestled next to me, I fell asleep.

* * *

Liese:

"You're a friend of Maddie's?" the bearded Ranger asked.

I sighed, tired of the small-talk and quite ready to begin discussing _my missing father!_ "Sure," I lied. I had never gotten along with the Princess, we were just too alike. "But I'm really here because my dad left Skandia coming towards Araluen with-"

"Will," Maddie interrupted. Was she _trying_ to keep me from getting to the point? "Did you know Liese's dad is the half-Araluen who revolutionized Skandian warship design?"

"I did not," Will said. We were all gathered in a room in the castle. Don't ask me whose it was, because I didn't know, there were so many. "And you don't look very Skandian, Liese."

I sighed, thoroughly exasperated. "My mom's from a town called Limmat somewhere along the Stormwhite. And not all Skandians are blonde, you know."

"I know," Will said. "I spent some time in Skandia, as a matter of fact. Though I didn't really get to enjoy the scenery much. Cassandra and I were slaves there for a few months."

For a moment I was curious. This was a story I had not yet heard, but then I remembered that my dad was missing. I decided that if I got it out fast enough, maybe Maddie wouldn't interrupt me. I took a deep breath.

"MydadleftHallasholmtobringsomeAraluenshometwomonthsagobuthehasn'tcomebackyetandmymom'spregnantandweneedtoknowwhereheis."

"Oh," Maddie said. "I'm sorry, Liese."

I realized I was crying. I looked down, ashamed. I'm not a crying type of person. The last time… probably a few years ago when my mom had her last miscarriage. That's how worried we were about my dad. He is _never_ late. _Never._ At least, not when he's coming back from a voyage. Otherwise, he's almost always late, working on some invention or another. But he would never let us worry for more than a day or two.

"Why don't you start at the very beginning," Will said.

I thought back, trying to define where the beginning would be. Maddie already knew about my mom's tendency to miscarry, so past that. Alyss and the burning inn? No, that didn't really translate to the current topic. I decided to make it short.

"Two Araluens came a few months ago, a Ranger and his fiancee," I started.

"Gilan and Jenny," Will supplied.

"Yes. And while they were there they found a woman and her daughter. The woman was an amnesia victim, but apparently these two knew her. My dad decided to bring them home when the time came, and he left two months ago. It should have been three weeks at most. There's been no word, either. My mom finally decided to send me here to check if he ever even made it."

Maddie's eyebrows were furrowed in a worried expression. "You think he might've… that the _Heron_ might've…"

"There were reports of a monstrous storm."

"Oh, no," Maddie said. Her voice seemed to hold actual concern.

Will's face was hard to read, but I could tell that he was worried. His friends were on that ship. As I was studying him, I suddenly was reminded of Karan, Alyss' little daughter. I shook the irrelevant thought away.

"No Skandian ship has come in the last six months save the duty ship," he said. "Granted, I'll still contact the Rangers from the coastline fiefs, but I think your father may have had to land somewhere else."

"Somewhere else…" I repeated dully. _Maybe the bottom of the ocean,_ I thought bitterly.

But I had done what I could. Now I needed to return to Hallasholm, to help my mom.

The rest would be up to my dad.


	9. Tension Building

**Sorry it's been so long since last update, school is nuts right now. Hope you like it!**

I woke to shouts of joy.

"It's loud, mama," Kari told me. "I was still sleeping."

I smiled at her warmly. "Good observation, little one. Keep it up."

I helped her up the ladder, out into the sunshine. After our eyes became accustomed to the sudden light, I peered back to shore. Stig, Steffan, and the twins were whooping and jumping like toddlers, bounding towards the ship.

Hal, who was on deck, sitting at the stern with Ingvar, looked thoroughly confused as well, so I assumed that I hadn't missed too much.

The land beyond the beach was lush and green. The singing birds and clear blue sky renewed my energy after yesterday's dismal mood. The sea sparkled like it contained millions of diamonds. The gentle waves lapped rhythmically at the hull and the sand, and the effect was very calming. I breathed deeply. Maybe today could be better.

Stig, Steffan, Ulf, and Wulf, who'd quieted a bit, all began speaking to Hal at once, so fast, excited, and overlapped that it was all absolutely incoherent.

"We were looking for another gobble-gobble bird…"

"Edvin yelled at us last night for not…"

"And they came out of the trees…"

"Half their original numbers, but still a lot…"

"Scared the daylights out my brother, here…" That was Ulf.

"I think my brother nearly soaked his trousers…" That was Wulf.

Hal and I exchanged a glance. As the only two on board the _Heron_ with more than an ounce of real sense, we had become good at reading what the other was thinking.

"ENOUGH!" He shouted, just as I yelled. "QUIET!"

The four crewmen promptly shut up.

"Who scared the daylights out of Wulf?" Hal asked.

Wulf scowled. "Actually, it was really Ulf who-"

"I think what Hal means," I interrupted, watching Kari play in the sand out of the corner of my eye, "is who came out of these bushes to scare you- _all_ of you?"

Hal shot me a look of gratitude. "Exactly." He nodded. I was glad someone on this land appreciated my Araluen diplomatic skills. I had remembered almost everything now, though the few years before the fire at the inn were still blurred.

Ulf stuck his chin in the air, as if I had confirmed what he'd been saying. Wulf did the same. "The Mawags. They're here."

* * *

Maddie:

How in the world would I tell Will?

I was cleaning out the stables. Not a very princess-ey job, I know, but Will insisted that the horses' stalls were thoroughly cleaned once a week, not including the twice-a-day mucking and feeding. Bumper and Tug were great buddies, so I had let them roam together while I scrubbed and swept.

But my mind wasn't with the task. It was thinking-hard.

After our conversation with Liese, Will had had to leave for some full-fledged Ranger business. I had stayed and Liese had talked to me in more detail. The story astounded me.

Especially one bit in particular.

How was I going to tell Will?

He had finally gotten used to the fact that his soulmate, Alyss Mainwaring, my honorary aunt, was dead. But now she wasn't! And she-and Will-had a daugher. A daughter who had lived for three years without ever meeting her father. A daughter whom Will had never met, didn't know existed.

So back to the original question: How to tell Will?

Several scenarios played through my mind, each ending worse than the last; Will getting mad, Will not believing me, Will trying to swim all the way to Skandia, or, worst of all, Will breaking down in tears. That one was the worst.

I, Maddie Altman, Araluen's Princess Royal, feared nothing more than seeing my mentor, famous Will Treaty, broken. I mean, I know that he isn't invincible like the stories of him told in taverns, but he's still my hero. Almost everything about me that defined me had been at least partly influenced by him. Oh, actually, maybe there was something I feared more than Will snapping: me letting him down. And if he took Alyss' reappearance and current status the wrong way, it could definitely be equivalent to me letting him down.

And, in general, I'm a pretty brave person, though some of that may just be my impulsive nature, but I am terrified. Terrified. Of Will's expression if he realizes that everything he'd thought, everything he'd felt over the past three years would have been different if he'd known one thing:

Alyss Mainwaring wasn't dead.

* * *

Alyss:

Simsinnet, Millika, and a boy about Gustav's age named Dason all sat around the campfire with us, somberly eating the rabbit stew Edvin had managed to whip up on short notice.

There had been a plague, a nasty one. One out of every three people in their tribe were killed. A nearby tribe had been so close to being wiped out, they'd temporarily joined with the Mawags. Several other tribes _had_ been lost. Dason said that if you traveled too close to their lands, the stench of rotting bodies became the only smell that could be smelled. Because eventually they ran out firewood to burn them with and soft ground to bury them in.

"Mawags move north," Millika explained. "Outrun worst of cursed illness."

"Who brought it?" Hal asked. That was what most of the crew worried the most about. Whether they were responsible for the devastating disease. "The plague, I mean."

"Dark-haired men…" Simsinnet set down his empty bowl. "From I-ber-y-ah." He sounded out the name slowly.

"Iberion explorers." Hal's face was grim, set. We were at a stalemate, I guess. "They've heard rumors of a new land, must've set out and landed here."

"Most fled," Millika continued, "when plague struck. Some stayed and live towards the west, now."

"The ship is almost ready to leave," Hal said, his eyebrows furrowing a little. "If… if any of the Mawagansetts would like to… to come back to Skandia-or Araluen-with us, you're welcome."

"I would!" Dason said. Both his parents and three of his siblings had died. And he was fascinated by these newcomers.

"Plan's set, then." Hal stood, and half the crew mirrored him. "We all leave day after tomorrow."

Or, at least, most of them would.

The Mawags left to return to their tribe, and me and the Herons bedded down, on-shore, for the night. Jenny, Kari, and me all slept thirty feet away from the crew, so I didn't feel guilty about Kari's night whimpering. There was no moon that night, so I could just make out Kari's closed, long-lashed eyes, sweet, pale face, and silky mouse-brown hair, just long enough now to curl around her shoulders.

Kari, my daughter.

 **Please, please, please Review, guys!**


	10. Fire!

Everyone leaving was on board ship.

I felt awful that there was nothing we could do to help the natives suffering from the plague, but I was so glad, so anxious, so full of gleeful anticipation at seeing Will and my other friends again, I could barely feel the swaying of the _Heron_ under my feet.

Kari was toddling about, saying "hi" and jabbering to anyone who would listen. Jenny was whispering to Gilan at the bow, and Hal was organizing the crew to leave.

We had three extra passengers: Dason, Millika, and a Mawag-Iberion girl-probably about fourteen years old-named Natalia.

"Alyss," Natalia asked me, her brown eyes deeper even than Kari's, "Dason and I are to say goodbye to our friends. Karia would like to come with us." Karia was what the girl called Kari, because it felt more natural to her.

I looked to Dason. He was responsible, and Kari really liked Natalia's company . "Of course."

The biggest mistake I ever made.

Minutes after the trio disappeared into the woods where the Mawags stood to say goodbye, cries and shouts began to echo towards where I stood, leaning on the bulwark.

"Fire! Fire! The Iberians are setting fire!"

"No," I breathed. I could see the smoke rising from the evergreen trees, and could hear now the crackling as the pine needles exploded. Nine Iberians with blazing torches ran out onto the beach, towards the ship.

"We have to leave," Hal said. "If the ship catches, we're all doomed."

"But Kari!" I shouted. "She and Dason and Natalia are all on shore!" If Hal left now, I would never forgive him. Never.

"Alyss. You need to trust that Dason can get her back in time."

"But what if he doesn't?" I shouted. The idea that I could be going home to Will _without_ our daughter, him having never met her? No. It was unimaginable.

Hal gave orders, and the ship began cruising out of the harbor. _No,_ I thought. _No, no, no._

"Sail!" Hal shouted.

 _Nonononono._

Dason appeared on shore, Kari in his arms. I screamed, tears flooding freely down my cheeks. He yelled something I couldn't hear over the fire, then I made out his last few words. "I'll take care of her, I promise!"

No.

She was gone.

Gone.

My heart felt hollow. If someone had dropped a stone into it right then, I felt sure it would have echoed like a cave. No.

* * *

He stood on the shore.

I could see the curve of his longbow and I relished the sight of his mottled cloak in the wind. When we unboarded, I stood on the shore for a second. Two seconds. Three.

Then we both rushed forward at the same time. I collapsed in his strong arms, sobbing.

For delight.

For confusion.

For grief.

He didn't say anything. Except one word. "Alyss." Like it was the key to everything in the universe.

And I said something too. I said "Will." Because right then, that was all I had.

Kari was gone.

 **Wow. I can't believe I just did that. I like killed off a character. At least, for now.**

 **Bye! God Bless!**


	11. The Ranger's Daughter

**I'm back! And so is Kari.**

Kari:

The trees. The wind. The earth.

That was all I was aware of as I raced through the woods toward the beach. My heart beat so loud in my chest I was scared in my burst out. _Thud-thud… thud-thud,_ it went, harmonizing with my footsteps on the wet forest floor.

Morning birds called from high in the tree branches. I recognized the cheer of the crested Redbird and the distress call of a black-capped songbird. _Chickadee-dee-dee-dee._

I let the wind tug at my tunic. At my short cowled cape. At my long, silky-brown hair. _Thud-thud,_ went my heart. _Thump-thump,_ went my feet.

Spring had raised new plants through the snow still lingering in the trees, clearing the air. My throat stung with each crisp, cool breath.

 _Thud-thud. Thump-thump._

I leaped over a root, and skidded on the damp leaves before running again. My leather knife scabbard was rubbing irritatingly at my thigh through my tunic. I risked turning my head for a few steps. He was still there, and he was gaining. The turn had slowed me, so I pooled some of my energy into a burst of speed. The sound of his breathing became a little softer.

The trees began to thin out.

I was almost there!

Then a hand grabbed my shoulder, bringing me tumbling to the ground in a mad combination of somersaults and rolls. As I fell, though, my right hand found the hilt of my stone dagger. By the time I'd stood again, I had it fully drawn, point pressed against my opponent's throat. "You're dead," I told him.

His ice blue eyes held surprise, as if he never believed that he could be bested by a fifteen year-old girl. I could tell that he knew he'd lost.

Then we both doubled over in laughter. The dagger that had just threatened his life hit the ground.

"You're getting a lot better at that, Kari," Corin told me. "Dason will be impressed."

I grinned with pride.

For the past year, I'd been trying as hard as possible to raise my athletic skills high enough to even provide a challenge for Corin. Now I'd succeeded.

We were the only foreigners in the Mawagansett tribe, the only fair-skinned ones. Dason told me we came from somewhere called Araluen. I barely remembered anywhere except for Mawag country. Corin never spoke about his time before he showed up two years ago.

Dason had been like a father to me, everyone told me. Though only twelve years older, he had let me stay with him after my parents left. He had taught me everything I know. His wife, Natalia, had been like a mother to me.

They told me it was because they'd promised my parents and felt responsible for our separation. The others, though, said that my parents had abandoned me, left me with the natives.

I didn't know which to believe.

Two years ago, Corin appeared. He'd worn a mottled brown-and-green cloak that seemed to disappear when he stood still and carried a longbow and quiver full of black arrows. Around his waist he also had a double-knife scabbard, with weapons made of the hardest metal. His caretaker, his guardian, his "mentor" as he called her, had come to this land on a ship, but he'd been kidnapped by a western tribe and his friends had been forced to leave before he escaped.

I had been in awe of another white person. His skin was even fairer than mine, and his hair was a dirty-blonde lighter than my mouse-brown.

He began to teach me how to use a longbow, how to throw a knife, how to hunt and track and disappear into the shadows. He was a patient teacher and tolerated my perpetual clumsiness with the very thoughtfulness and gentleness I severely lacked.

My name is Kari. Karan Erianthe Treaty. At least, that's what Natalia said my mother had named me.

To the natives here, though, I am Karanyauma Sandoval. My first name meant _the butterfly,_ and the last, I shared with Dason and Natalia.

"Can you hit the knot on that tree over there?" Corin asked me, gesturing with his head from the knife on the ground to an oak about thirty-five feet away.

"Of course." I picked up the weapon by its blade, between my finger and thumb, like he'd taught me. Then I tossed it underhand, spinning and flashing until it planted firmly into the bark of its target. I smiled smugly and turned back to my teacher. "See, I told…" but he was gone.

Then, a black arrow whizzed by me, catching my cowl and pinning it to the fir tree behind me.

Corin emerged, straight-faced, from the hidden side of a moss-covered black walnut tree, his longbow in hand, having just fired. "Don't get too cocky," he told me, stepping back to our clearing near the beach.

I gripped the shaft of the arrow, trying to tug it out, but it was at an odd angle, and I couldn't quite get enough leverage. "You'll always be better than me, Corin," I told him.

He stepped forward, wrapped his hands around the arrow, and slid it out of the tree as if it were clay. "Not always, Butterfly. You have more potential than I could even hope for." He used his nickname for me, _Butterfly_ , like my native name, Karanyauma. I had asked him why he called me that once, and he'd told me that it was because my mind fluttered back and forth between ideas like a nimble butterfly, which made me blush with pride.

"I've been thinking, Kari," he continued.

"Never the safest pastime," I commented drily.

"Not in your case, it isn't," he shot back. "But back in Araluen, where I came from, and where I assume you came from, I was what's called a Ranger." He paused.

I was surprised. Never did Corin speak of his time before the Mawags. And never did anyone ask him about it. It was just a rule. The last time someone had-Simsinnet, the tribe leader-he found himself at knife-point.

"I was apprenticed to the former student of a man named Will Treaty, Araluen's hero, who had been taught by another famous Ranger, Halt O'Carrick. Her name was Madelyn Altman, and she taught me for about six months."

I wanted to tell him that these names meant absolutely nothing to me, but I wanted him to keep talking more.

"Our first mission as Rangers," Corin continued. The arrow he'd pulled out of the tree was still in his hand, and I found it quite intimidating, "was to accompany Will and his wife to an unexplored island to search for someone. We did, but I was captured by Iberians, and the others were forced to leave without me. But I still have that Ranger training, Kari. I see that, if you were in Araluen, the Ranger Corps would be arguing to see who got you as an apprentice."

 _Okay,_ I thought. _Where is he going with this?_ Corin could be like this sometimes; mysterious, vague, very odd.

Suddenly, he dropped the arrow to the ground and met my eyes. He was the only person I'd ever seen with blue eyes. They were like ice.

"I want to train you as a Ranger, Kari. Even if I'm not fully qualified. I think, if you ever made it to Araluen, you could be the greatest Ranger who ever lived."

 **Of course she could be, Corin! She's Will's daughter, duh! And I love how she and Will both are butterflies in their different countries. Sometimes I forget that I'm the one writing the story. Like I'm in the middle of a sentence and I say out loud "who was your mentor, Corin. I mean, before you came to the Mawags?" Then I remember** ** _oh, yeah. I have to make that up._** **Do you guys ever have times like that?**

 **Anyway, God bless! See you next chapter!**


	12. Training

**Hmm... only one person reviewed for the last chapter.**

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I stood, dumbfounded for a moment.

First, I was having fun running from my best friend. Then, I was impaling an innocent tree with my knife before Corin bested me once again.

Now I'm being told that another country has a mysterious job that if I ever went there, could excel at. Great. But… I was never going to go there.

I looked up to tell Corin this, but then I saw his eyes. Blue, like I've said before. The only blue eyes I've ever seen. And so full of sincerity, of sureness.

So I said something super intelligent-like. Maybe "Uh…" Then: "Why not?"

And thus began the oddest, most miserable, most memorable, and possibly the most amazing time of my life.

Every day I woke before dawn, before everyone in the village to haul water, sweep Simsinnet's hut, clean cooking utensils, gather firewood, etc. Corin told me that in Araluen, apprentices would do housework and cleaning for their mentors, but because of our different setting, I would instead serve Simsinnet and the village.

So I became the common servant.

But I didn't whine. I could tell that my arms were getting significantly stronger and, better, my heart was getting humbler. Once, I did ask Corin if he was going to teach me to use the bow, and he said we would, but that first I must accomplish the dirty chores.

"If you ever do get to Araluen," he said, "you will not be accepted as a true Ranger if I tell them you never did the housework." He spoke with a little smile, as if remembering a private joke.

* * *

Maddie:

 _Hiss-thud! Hiss-thud!_

My sling whipped around again, and again the stone flew and smacked into the target with a satisfying sound, a sound that gave my anger physical form.

Anger at my father, anger at Oberjarl Rollond, anger at myself… anger at just about everyone I could think of.

My one excuse to shirk my duties as "Princess", an excuse that I loved, and I failed.

I realize that you might be a little lost, reader, since the last time I spoke was years ago, but I don't feel like explaining, so you might have a bit of a hard time following for a few minutes here.

My five year-old brother, Axel, was what began my tastes of freedom. I was a full-fledged Ranger, patrolling and caring for Araluen fief with Gilan, when he was born. I hadn't been given my own fief, because of my double job as Crown Princess of Araluen. But then… the boy my parents had always wanted was born.

My mother even said that maybe I could legally sign over my crown to him. That I could be a Ranger instead. That my life could be hunting and fighting and sneaking instead of embroidery and champagne and gowns.

So I was moved to Caraway.

After I settled in, Gilan assigned me an apprentice. An apprentice! A bright boy-an orphan-of fifteen named Corin. I wasn't quite as tough on him as I could've been-as Will was-but his past life had been hard, and maybe, me being a girl, I felt a motherly sensation towards him.

Then, on our first big mission-find Karan Treaty-everything changed. I made a mistake. Corin was captured, kinship with the Mawags was all but lost, and I got return home with no good news.

Just a small mistake, really. But my life-and many other's lives-were changed because of it.

Please don't ask me what this mistake was.

Just don't.

Okay, fine. I'll tell you.

Just… later.

 _Hiss-thud! Hiss-thud!_ Not a single target would escape my wrath today. _Hiss-thud, hiss-thud, hiss-thud!_

Not one. _Hiss-thud! Hiss-thud! Hiss… THWACK!_

"Watch it, Maddie!" Someone cried.

I whipped around faster than my sling to see the someone, but I had left my hair loose that morning, and it blinded me for a moment.

Gustav Stigson was standing on the edge of my practice clearing, his sword raised. My stone must have flown a little off-course, and he'd deflected it with the weapon.

"Gustav!" I exclaimed, sloppily shoving my sling back into my belt, spilling my ammunition in the process. "How-why… I haven't seen you in almost two years!"

He stepped forward to help me clean up the stones. We both scrambled on our hands and knees until they were all in a neat little pile. Then we both moved to collect them at the same time. Our hands touched, and I blushed.

Oh, yeah. That's part of the mistake I was talking about.

Anyway…

"I came to visit you," Gustav told me, standing up to brush the dirt of his pant knees. He faltered. "I mean, to visit _all_ of you-Will, Gilan, Alyss, Jenny."

"That's nice," I said, with all the intelligence of an upside-down turkey.

"Yeah."

 _We both have the most prodigious vocabularies today, don't we?_ I thought. _Just blooming with illustrious portrayals._ "Have you already seen them? The others, I mean. Will, Gilan, Alyss, and Jenny, I mean." _Oh, boy._

"No. The duty ship gave me a ride, and you were the closest," he told me. By silent agreement we began to walk back to the cabin.

 _Because I was the closest? Why, thank you for your incessant consideration._

My head was overflowing with flowering sentences of sarcasm and smart remarks that would surely make him laugh, but my tongue felt like it had turned to rubber, and my jaw like it needed to be oiled. All my mouth could get out was. "That's nice." My lips curved upward into what might have been interpreted as a smile, but more likely a grimace.

He looked at me sidelong, but I could see his face was tense, too.

Why? Because we both were remembering our failure the last time we worked together. A boy, my apprentice, had had to be left behind because of my mistake.

 **Like I said at the beginning: Reviews** ** _are_** **what keep this story alive. If you care about these characters or finding out what will happen next, please, please,** ** _PLEASE_** **REVIEW!**


	13. Who Am I?

**Hi y'all!**

 **I'm so happy that I got all those reviews! They make me feel all warm and so... encouraged. I want you all to know that this story will remain active as long as it has such wonderful readers.**

" _Jenny, we need to close the door and secure ourselves. A storm's coming." I heard her voice, but I couldn't see her face. I could feel her breath as I nestled against her warm body._

" _I thought it was too early in the season for the bad storms. And why would we need to secure ourselves?" Another voice, this one sweet and higher._

 _Then the room began to rock. It tumbled and flipped and tossed. I screamed. The one I felt, the one I loved and remembered and missed screamed and tensed every time the floor rolled beneath us and the crashes thundered above. It lasted for hours and hours and hours._

" _How long have we been here?" the first woman asked._

" _A day or so. Gilan came in a few minutes ago with the food and told us that Hal thinks the storm should pass soon. But we aren't sure where we are. The storm blew us way off course and it may take us awhile to get back to Araluen."_

" _I'm sure we'll get back, Hal's a great navigator. He'll get us home." But I could hear the doubt in her voice. And I heard her say something else, something that the other woman couldn't hear. "I just hope he gets us all."_

I shot awake.

What-what… I never remembered my dreams. They would always slip just out of reach when I woke up. I found it annoying, but now I wished that this one would disappear, too.

The mat I slept on was cold. No light was sliding in from the small window in the hut. Still night.

I laid my head back onto the mat.

And immediately brought it back up.

The place in my dream wasn't anywhere in Mawag territory. I had been in a little room, one that could rock and roll and tilt like nothing I'd ever seen before. How could my brain conjure up something I'd never seen before? Something I couldn't have imagined?

And the woman. She'd held me and hugged me and protected me and spoken gently to me. Like Natalia did sometimes. But more… real. Like she'd been made specifically to be my mother.

I remembered a week when Dason, Natalia, and a few other Mawags went on a "patrol" around the Mawag borders about two and a half years ago. Many children had begged to be taken along, but I was the only one allowed to go, even though _I_ had wanted to stay.

We had traveled to the border of a tribe called Chinoag and camped there for several days. I still didn't understand why we had been there, because we didn't do any patrolling, but I remember one night, right before we went to sleep, a Chinoag boy had taken interest in me and talked to me like I was his. When I had escaped, I told Natalia, but she didn't have any advice. She didn't hold me or tell me what I should do in situations like that. She just smiled sweetly.

Because she wasn't my true mother.

But I had always been told that my parents had abandoned me with the Mawags. Why was the woman from my dream so affectionate if she hadn't been planning to love me?

I thought all this as I crept out of the hut into the crisp night air and starlight.

The shadows of oak trees stretched up to the sky, as if to try to cloak the moon, and the gentle evening breeze rustled the leaves, creating a whispering effect. A heard the ugly sound of a vixen calling for a mate, but it was so far away it just sounded like a howl. Crickets and spring peepers chirped in a natural chorus while the brook that ran around the Mawag camp made gurgles of harmonies.

I sat on a mossy rock right on the edge of the woods, pulled out my throwing knife, and set to carving a small block of wood I'd been working on.

Hours passed with me like that. The stars began to fade, the sky to pale, and the choir of night sounds to dissolve. With the rising morning, a figure began to rise out of my wood. Long nose, large eyes, locks of hair falling down from between two ears. A creature. Called soquili by the Mawags. Horse by Corin and I.

Then I detailed legs, with a tail wrapped around to bat away flies.

The sky was turning red now, and I knew I needed to be finished and start my morning work, but I hung back for a moment, still thinking about my dream.

Why had my parents supposedly abandoned me?


	14. Horses

**Hi ya'll!**

 **Ugh, I'm an awful person. I'm so sorry this took me so long. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed during my absence!**

 **Well, I'm back, so enjoy!**

Corin:

"Keep your arm straight for the follow-through," I reminded my apprentice.

It had been seven months since I began training her. Every day I wished I'd had another year with my mentor. I had never perfected the finer points of tracking or certain hunting.

But, like I'd thought, Kari was an absolute natural.

She was already a better shot than most graduating first-year apprentices, and her knife-throwing was flawless. I'd originally been worried that because she was a girl she might not have the muscle for a bow, but apparently after her years with the Mawags she was stronger than Maddie.

My eyebrows furrowed as I watched her face. She had drawn another arrow, and was taking her time aiming at a tree target about fifty feet away, the tip of her tongue protruding from her teeth in concentration.

Ever since I'd arrived, I'd questioned her lineage.

Simsinnet had told me her mother was an Araluen criminal who came with Hal's ship to make a new life in the new land. But then a fire had struck the Mawag camp, and the woman had to leave, but she abandoned the baby with Natalia.

But…

What I had in mind…

Maybe not.

Kari told me that her parents had left her with the Mawags, but that seemed to be all she knew about it.

 _Thud!_ Her arrow embedded itself in the soft wood of her oak tree target, that was already bristling with her ammunition.

"That's twenty-eight in a row," she told me, grinning smugly. "Record."

I felt my heart skip a beat at her upturned corners of her lips, but forced myself not to smile. "Remember," I told her, "'A normal archer practices until he gets it right, but-'"

"I knoooow," she drew out, rolling her eyes obnoxiously. "'But a Ranger practices until she never gets it wrong.'"

She set off to collect her arrows. I noticed that she'd left her hair down that morning. The way her mouse-brown waves swayed across her back as she walked was mesmerizing… which was _totally_ irrelevant. I really liked her hair down… also irrelevant.

When she came back, her deep brown eyes sparkled. "There are buck scrapes on those maples over there," she said. "They look like they belong to a big one. And they're fresh, too."

I nodded, showing I approved of her finding. "Make sure you tell Simsinnet later today."

"Are we practicing something else?"

"No more training. I have another thing in mind."

She followed me through the woods back to the camp, where the women were cooking the tribe dinner for that night. The sounds and smells of the sizzling rabbit meat and baking potatoes set my mouth watering.

I saw Kari eyeing the cooking fire. She was _always_ hungry. I sighed, "I promise we can eat soon."

"Where are we going?"

We'd passed through the camp and were back in the woods, this time on the other side. If we turned left, we would come across the beach, and if we went right, we'd run into the graves from the Mawag plague from years ago.

"Practice your fox-walk," I told here, ignoring her question. _Fox-walk_ was what she called walking quietly through woods. She liked to name things, and I found it amusing. Unseen movement was _shadowing,_ double-knife defense was _checking,_ and I was _insufferable._

We walked for nearly an entire hour. Of course, she did nothing to muffle the crunching of sticks and leaves beneath her feet after the first twenty minutes, when she realized that it wasn't a real training exercise. She kept asking question about where we were going or when we could get dinner, and kept evading answer.

That was the hard part of being a half-trained mentor. I wasn't prepared and shaped and… _steeled_ , like Maddie, Will, Gilan, and the others. I didn't have the practice keeping my feelings in check. Plus, this was the first time a man had trained a girl who was near his age.

Until I couldn't teach her any more, I had to remain closed. Unfortunately, after only a few months, she was progressing shockingly faster than I'd expected.

By Mawag standards, Kari's father should be seeking her a husband. Most girls were married by sixteen. But I'd asked Dason to hold off for a year or two, so I could continue training her. At least, that's what I'd told him.

Dason could give her to just about any man in the tribe, and probably most in the surrounding ones. Because of her pale skin and hair, she was a source of intrigue and beauty to the natives.

Well, and to me, if I'm being honest.

How could one person be endearingly clumsy and elegantly graceful, charmingly sarcastic and gently caring all at once?

In her daily life she had trouble staying upright, always spilling soup and tripping over things, but when training or for a purpose, she transformed into a nimble, agile figure.

She would make snarky or cheeky comments when someone left themselves open to it, but she would never prey on another's mistake to make a joke.

"Uh… _hello_?" Kari waved her hand in front of my face. "Still in there?"

I'd been staring into space again. "Yeah, sorry."

"Bring me a postcard next time," she said. When I raised my eyebrow, she added. "You know, from La-la Land."

Then I realized we were where I wanted to be. A few feet ahead, the woods opened into a field with knee-high grass and white lace flowers. "Follow me."

I led her around the border of the field, to where it met bogland, just skirting the swamp and toward the river on the other side of the field.

Boulders created a nature-made wall along the center of the field, and ran right from the woods to the water. We crept up and climbed just high enough so our heads could barely see over the top.

"What-" Kari started.

"Shh."

"Why-"

"Wait."

And we waited. After ten minutes, they finally came.

Led by a gorgeous tan roan mare, a herd of about eleven horses came thundering into the field from the horizon. I could see the stallion of the herd, a palomino I called Ganesi- _golden._ Another stallion, a chestnut, probably after one of Ganesi's mares, was chasing and sparring with the palomino, but he was obviously young, and the older stallion's experience won over. He nipped the chestnut on the flank, drawing blood, and sent him away.

Then Ganesi circled his group of mares and foals so they were close together before allowing them to graze.

I glanced at Kari on my left. Her jaw was slack with awe.

There were five mares, three foals, and two yearling fillies. I craned my neck, searching the herd. _There!_

Once I was certain, I pursed my lips and let out a three toned whistle-high note, low note, high note again.

Among the herd, one head shot up. A stocky, slightly shaggy black mare came trotting towards the rock wall. Ganesi looked up at the sound of hooves, but seemed disinterested, like this particular mare left pretty often, which she did.

" _What_?" Kari asked. Her eyes were still wide with shock. I'd told her about horses and shown her my carvings, but she'd never seen a living one before.

"This is Avasha," I said, stroking the horse's velvety nose.

"She's… she's yours?" Kari asked. It looked like her eyebrows were trying to escape her forehead she was so surprised. I nodded, glad to have impressed her.

"She came with me from Araluen. Once I joined the Mawags, she started living with the herd," I said. "She's a Ranger horse."

"She's beautiful. Do you… can you ride her?"

"I certainly hope so. What would be the point of a horse who can't be ridden?"

I loved it when she blushed. Her cheeks turned a rosy pink and she blinked like she was flustered. "Um… Corin, would you teach me?"

I smiled. "Sure, just get on her."

* * *

Maddie:

" _Really, Madelyn? You didn't want to be queen one day, then this was your way out."_

" _My way out was to let you control my life? Mother, this was a new low."_

" _I was not controlling you in any way, Madelyn. I was giving you a choice."_

" _But neither of these choices would have let me be a Ranger."_

" _You would have been able to finish training your apprentice. I guess you ruined that chance."_

Corin. Corin was the only thing on my mind these days. I woke missing him, and went to bed dreaming about him. He had become like a younger brother, maybe even a son to me in the months I'd trained him.

And then I'd went and ruined it all.

Gustav left three days ago to return to Skandia with the duty ship.

Oh, and Baron Ronaldo of Redmont's wife just had a baby.

Okay, I'm procrastinating.

I really don't like talking about my mistake. Though, it's more of a… failure.

See, after my mother and I'd agreed that Axel would be better fit to inherit Araluen, I'd thought that that would mean I'd be free to live as a Ranger.

But obviously we weren't quite on the same page. My mother decided to go and discuss _me_ with Oberjarl Rollond of Skandia.

Where does Gustav come in?

" _Hi, I'm Gustav. I from the_ Heron _crew."_

" _Why are you on this mission?"_

" _I guess because my father was the Maktig. And why are you on this mission?"_

" _Oh, probably because I was trained by the father of the girl we're trying to save."_

" _No other reason?"_

" _No, none that I can think of"_

Yeah, not only was his father the Maktig, but Gustav was, too. Twice. By the time he was twenty. But he didn't tell me that. Nope. But I didn't tell him I was a princess, either.

 _Soooo,_ anyway, my mother was discussing me and the weakening treaty between our countries. And then Rollond had a positively _brilliant_ idea. _Why don't we marry one of our famous warriors to Araluen's maiden princess?_ And my mother, pretending she hadn't been thinking about this herself, said _Well that is fantastic, Oberjarl! I'll even make sure Madelyn knows nothing about it until every document and agreement is made and nothing can be changed._

So now you know the beginning.

I knew nothing about this until he mentioned that the young Maktig warrior of Skandia was betrothed to the princess of Araluen.

I was engaged.

To someone I'd never met before.

Who happened to be Gustav, who I was then falling in love with. But I didn't know that I was engaged to him. So I went and ruined everything to get out of the betrothal only to find that I'd just doomed the mission, and my apprentice.

 **Hope you all enjoyed it! See you next chapter!**

 **God bless!**

 **-TEM**


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